Mercury blow chance to keep pace for No. 2 seed with upset loss

The Phoenix Mercury squandered an opportunity to pull even with the Atlanta Dream for second in the WNBA standings on Saturday following an upset 87-84 road loss to the Connecticut Sun (11-31).

With only two games remaining in the regular season, the result, which snapped a six-game winning streak, could have a significant impact on the Mercury's playoff outlook.

Phoenix dropped to fourth in the standings, a half-game behind the Las Vegas Aces (27-14), who have won 13 consecutive games and play the Chicago Sky (10-31) in their next two games.

With chances slim that the Mercury (27-15) move up before the postseason begins, they could be left with the toughest possible path to the WNBA Finals.

The defending champion New York Liberty (25-17) sit at No. 5 and loom as the Mercury's likeliest first-round opponent. If Phoenix gets past New York, the 1-seed Minnesota Lynx (32-9) would be its most probable semifinal matchup.

If that's the path that awaits the Mercury, they'll look back at Saturday's loss and wonder what could have been.

Phoenix opened at sportsbooks as a 10.5-point pregame favorite and led at halftime, 50-47, after a big second quarter. For the game, it made six more threes than Connecticut, and MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas, who spent her first 11 seasons with the Sun before being traded to the Mercury this past offseason, finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double, ending with 14 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and two steals.

The WNBA playoffs begin next Sunday, Sep. 14. Instead of entering the final week of the regular season with a great opportunity to earn the No. 2 seed, the Mercury's stunning loss to the Sun has put them on track for a treacherous playoff path.